The gold medal won by Alexandre Bilodeau in men’s moguls broke any notion that Canadians are cursed at winning at home.
His race was brilliant and the accompanying story of a kid from Quebec was pretty amazing. Bilodeau’s chosen sport was hockey. His older brother has cerebral palsy and due to that, the athlete’s preference for hockey was dropped because skiing was a sport the whole family could enjoy. That is quite a twist of fate.
Since that momentous occasion, Canada won another gold medal. This time it was Maelle Ricker, of North Vancouver, for snowboard cross. It so happens that Ricker was injured badly in the last winter Olympics and was air-lifted out by helicopter.
Some may have figured that to be one lost chance, but in the spirit of the sport, she fought back to achieve gold four years later.
People who ordinarily shy away from watching Sports seem drawn in to the Olympics; moreso, we believe, since Canada is the host nation this year. Numerous other medals have been won and the thrill of sport has engaged Canadians from one end of the country to the other. While the odds of great medal counts are stacked against a country of our size, it appears the athletes representing Canada are giving it their very best.
There are lessons for ordinary Canadians within these Games. Little is achieved by dreaming without doing, and if we are to succeed at whatever task or vocation, we need to do it well and to the best of our abilities.
Go Canada!
